Meet Kadiatou Claudine Holm Keita, if you’re not already formally acquainted.
The 19-year-old Stockholm-born Swedish singer first rose to fame as one of the finalists on Idol – the Swedish version of the Idol franchise – coming in as the runner-up against Sebastian Walldén in 2018.
Look at how she did Our Rita Ora justice. A proud Ritabot!
From there, she did what many talented Swedes do (ABBA, Eric Saade, Loreen to name a few) and moved on to Melodifestivalen in 2021, the annual song competition to determine Sweden’s representative for the Eurovision Song Contest. There, she entered with the fantastic “One Touch” – not to be confused with the Sugababes, nor Mini Viva – but sadly placed in sixth place during the semi-final rounds. (A shame, especially, since it slaps far harder than Sweden’s actual entry.)
But let’s not dwell on it.
In fact, that’s the whole mantra behind her brand new bop: “Don’t Complicate It,” a solid summer-ready banger for the over-thinkers among us. (I, however, have never once had any thoughts.)
Produced by Lukas Hällgren (of Alexandra Stan‘s “Cherry Pop” fame), and co-written with Erik Dalquist and Yvonne Dahlbom, the song is an uncomplicated, reassuring earworm: “We don’t have to fall in love tonight,” Kadiatou promises throughout the bouncy dance-pop production.
Don’t overthink it! Don’t complicate it! Words of wisdom, if I’ve ever heard them.